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PRAYER FOCUS UPDATE is a monthly information bulletin with up-to-date news on the persecuted Church to help Christians pray for their suffering brothers and sisters. You can use this for prayer groups, your own information and for inclusion in church magazines.
It can be sent via email, is available as printable versions on the Barnabas Fund website or can be sent through the post FREE OF CHARGE. Please contact your national Barnabas Fund office or the UK office if you would like to receive this in the post.
You can select an A4 or A5 PDF version to download by clicking here
ANGOLA - GIRL DECAPITATED IN ATTACK BY MUSLIM EXTREMISTS
Muslim extremists recently attacked the Christian community in the town of Andulo. In an horrific incident, the school-age daughter of a deacon at one of the churches was decapitated. Forty believers were assaulted or tortured, and one of them needed 20 stitches in his head. The mob burned three church buildings. They also went to believers' houses to intimidate them and damaged or destroyed items of property. Stones were thrown at the headquarters of a local Christian project, causing some damage.
Commenting to Barnabas Fund, an Angolan Christian leader said that the local police were unable to stop the attack and fled the scene, and the government seems reluctant to take action against Muslims, perhaps because it believes that Muslim aid is valuable to the nation. The community in Andulo is confused and disturbed, not least because they had believed what the Muslims told them: that Islam is a peaceful religion and that Muslims and Christians are brothers and sisters, worshipping the same God.
The Gospel is advancing strongly in Andulo. Twenty pastors supported by Barnabas Fund are active in evangelism among the people. The Christian project has a bookshop, also assisted by Barnabas Fund, which is making a great impact in the community, and it has also opened a small chemist's shop for basic health care. The work of the project is greatly appreciated by the Angolan government. The attack is believed to be a reaction against its success.
• Pray for the church deacon who has lost his daughter, and for his family and church, that God will comfort them in their bereavement and intense distress.
• Pray for the team who run the Christian project, that God will give them guidance and encouragement in their difficult circumstances.
• Pray for order to be restored in Andulo.
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UZBEKISTAN - CHRISTIAN FACES JAIL FOR USE OF "PROHIBITED" LITERATURE
Aimurat Khayburahmanov, a pastor's assistant from Nukus in Karakalpakstan, has been charged with teaching religion without official approval, and establishing or participating in a religious extremist organisation.
The second charge carries a penalty of between five and fifteen years' imprisonment, and is based on Aimurat's gathering people in his home to read allegedly prohibited Christian literature. The investigating officer claimed that whilst the Bible is not prohibited in Uzbekistan, some other Christian books are, though he refused to specify which of these Aimurat had been reading.
Local Christians report that Aimurat's body is covered with bruises from beatings administered in his isolation cell since his arrest. They say that he was initially allowed no visitors, and that he was forced to write a statement implicating his pastor, Zhandos Kuandukov, whom they believe to be the principal target of the police investigation. Zhandos's house was raided by police in June, and both he and Aimurat were arrested (see PFU Jul 08).
The import and production of all religious literature in Uzbekistan, including the Bible, has long been under strict state control. In July the Bible Society in Uzbekistan learned that the government's Religious Affairs Committee, which implements the system of compulsory prior censorship, had refused permission for a shipment of Bibles and Bible-related books to clear customs. The books had been held in the capital, Tashkent, for many weeks, and the Society is liable to a large charge for storage. Officials from the Justice Ministry also conducted an extra check on the Society's activity.
• Pray for Aimurat, that he will be treated justly by the authorities, and for Zhandos, that police harassment against him will cease.
• Pray for the Bible Society, that it may be able to import Bibles and other Christian literature freely.
• Pray for the government of Uzbekistan, that it may relax the controls on the distribution and reading of Christian books, and allow Christians to study God's Word in peace.
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INDIA - TWO CHRISTIANS BURNED TO DEATH IN ORISSA
Anti-Christian violence in Orissa has claimed four more lives. Hindu activists attacked churches in protest at the shooting of their leader Laxmanananda Saraswati. A young woman was burnt alive when a mob set fire to a church orphanage, and another died in a burning building in an adjoining village. The police imposed a curfew in several areas.
Hindu groups alleged that Christians were responsible for Saraswati's murder because he opposed conversion. The police, however, have blamed the shooting on suspected Maoist rebels.
At Christmas 2007 Hindu extremists launched a large-scale and violent attack on Christians in Orissa, burning scores of churches and hundreds of homes, and killing several people. Barnabas Fund is helping the victims with food, clothes, shelter and rebuilding.
• Pray for the families and friends of those killed in the violence, and for the Christian community as it withstands hostility from its neighbours.
• Pray for the rebuilding of churches and houses following the arson attacks.
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LAOS - ARRESTS AND DETENTION OF CHURCH MEMBERS FOR WORSHIPPING GOD
On Sunda y 20 July police stormed into a house church in the village of Boukham, in the Savannakhet province. They ordered the 63 members of the congregation to cease worshipping, on pain of arrest and imprisonment. The believers refused, stating that Sunday was a holy day on which they had to worship. The officers arrested the pastor, Mr Sompong, and two other church leaders, on a charge of "believing and worshipping God". The men were handcuffed and taken to the prison at Dong Haen, where their feet were fastened in wooden stocks.
Despite the arrests, the remaining Christians continued with their service, so the police arrested another man. When the church still refused to stop worshipping, the officers entered the building a third time and detained a 17-year-old woman who was actively leading the group in worship. All five prisoners were charged with spreading religion and conducting a religious meeting without permission.
Further arrests followed at the beginning of August, and Pastor Sompong was again arrested at Sunday worship.
• Praise God for the courage and perseverance of our brothers and sisters in Boukham. Pray for Pastor Sompong and his church, that the police will stop harassing them, and that any believers still in custody will soon be released unharmed. Pray for wisdom for the church leaders now faced with the requirement to obtain permission for any future meetings.
• Pray for the authorities in Laos, that they will uphold Christians' freedom of religion and worship as guaranteed by the country's constitution.
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CHINA - FURTHER EVIDENCE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ABUSES
As the Olympic Games closed in Beijing, disturbing news was received of new restrictions on religious freedom in China, and on Christians in particular.
It w as reported that a number of pastors of house churches (churches not controlled by the government) were forced to sign a written agreement that they would not participate in religious services during the Games. The document, drafted by Chinese government officials, specified that the churches should "refrain from organising and joining illegal gatherings and refrain from receiving donations, sermons and preaching from overseas religious organisations". It also prohibited the churches from gathering between mid-July and mid-October, a period that included the Games. Church members who violated these rules were made subject to the disciplinary action of the Chinese government.
A legal directive has also been issued by the Political and Legal Committee of the Communist Party's Central Committee and communicated to all the law enforcement agencies. It concerns a nationwide campaign to crack down on four supposedly "unstable social elements" within China, of whom the first listed are the leaders of Christian house churches. This is due to be launched in October, as part of the government's initiative for "20 more years of political and social stability". The head of the committee made a speech on 16 June calling for "extraordinary measures" to be taken against these elements.
• Pray for house church leaders in China, maintaining the worship and fellowship of their congregations under difficult conditions. Pray especially for those who suffer official penalties as a result, that they will be strong in the Lord and that their faith will not fail.
• Pray that the proposed campaign against church leaders and others may not succeed in diminishing or compromising their witness. Pray for protection for all God's people in China from the oppressive regime.
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INDONESIA - MUSLIM MOB ATTACKS A BIBLE COLLEGE, INJURING MANY STUDENTS
The SETIA Bible College in Jakarta, I Indonesia had to be evacuated of its students and staff on Sunday 27 July following two nights of disturbances by hundreds of armed Muslim protestors. At least 17 people were hurt.
Two students, Junius Kily and Jony Gontho, were returning to their dormitory on the Friday evening when they saw a large rat in the street. Junius threw his sandal at it, and the sandal landed on a neighbour's property. When Junius went to retrieve it, the owner of the house cried out that he was a thief.
The local mosque began urging the residents to attack the school, and by midnight mobs were attacking the dormitories, shouting Allahu Akhbar ("God is great"). Stones were thrown at the main campus building, and the protestors tried unsuccessfully to burn down one of the dormitories. They were armed with knives and sharpened bamboo.
The female students were evacuated, but the next night a crowd besieged a women's dormitory, where some of the male students had been transferred. The violence continued through the night, and the police began evacuating the remaining students. As they left, some of them were slashed with swords, and acid was thrown over others. They suffered head, shoulder, stomach and hand wounds. The assaults took place in front of the police, but they neither intervened nor arrested the attackers.
• Pray for the students at SETIA, especially those who were injured in the attacks, for the healing of their physical wounds and their distress. Pray that their suffering will not discourage them in their preparation for ministry.
• Pray for the school, that it may not be forced to move elsewhere or to close completely, and that the authorities will give it proper protection from violence and extremism.
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YEMEN - NINE CHRISTIANS DETAINED FOR CONVERTING FROM ISLAM
Bet ween May and early August nine recent converts from Islam to Christianity were detained by Yemeni police, and they remain in custody. Converting from Islam to any other religion is illegal in Yemen and can in principle be punished by death. But converts who have been arrested are usually released if they recant their new faith and pledge to return to Islam.
• Pray for those who have been arrested, that they may be kept safe and that God will give them courage to hold fast to their faith.
• Pray against the influence of Muslim extremists in Yemen, and for greater religious freedom.
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